The Fires of War
by IBelieveInHeroes
Summary: Alternative ending! What I wished could have happened!
1. Chapter 1

**I've been having all these feels lately over the Merlin ending and, honestly, I really wish it ended like this! Enjoy and review!**

Mordred and Arthur circled each other, swords drawn and poised to stab. They stared into each others' eyes, not saying a word. There was no need for words, they were both too tired and had come too far for mere words. They wanted blood. They wanted to end this now. They wanted to go home, only they were both too scared to kill. They tried to look brave and brutal but they were both too scared to kill each other. Arthur took Mordred in, treated him like his own, taught him all he knew and trusted him. Mordred couldn't kill his best friend and neither could Arthur.

"Mordred, you don't need to do this. I can help you," Arthur said, trying to keep his breathing as regular as possible however scared he was. Mordred laughed mockingly at him. This laugh was a disguise for the insecurity he was experiencing.

"You can't help anyone, Arthur Pendragon," he said, taking a step closer to Arthur. Arthur tried not to flinch as the sword edged closer to his stomach.

"Mordred, remember all that you did. Remember everything you once stood by."

"None of that matters anymore. None of it. Not after you..." Mordred tried to continue but the throbbing that began to develop in his throat stopped him. He gulped down the sobs and told himself to stay strong.

"Mordred, I had to. You know that. Deep down you understand that if the tables were turned you would do the same thing," Arthur said, trying to reason with his friend.

"I loved her!" Mordred shouted, losing his composure completely. He felt tears well up in his eyes and his body suddenly become weak. "I loved her. I-I loved her."

"I know. I know you did and I am sorry. I am so so sorry, Mordred, please forgive me."

Mordred froze and stared at the ground, he absorbed every word that was said to him. He thought about each word separately and deeply.

"Kill him!"

Mordred turned around and saw Morgana standing behind him, her grey eyes were fixed on Arthur's face. Mordred turned back to Arthur whose gaze was flickering between him and Morgana. Mordred tightened his sweaty grip on the sword.

"Mordred, what are you waiting for? Kill him." Morgana screamed, her voice echoing through the air. Mordred felt nauseated and his vision blurred until all that remained was a blur of different moving colours. His head pounded and his whole body went numb. "Kill him!" she screeched psychotically. Mordred didn't know what to do. He couldn't kill Arthur but if he didn't he'd be killed. His arm trembled with the weight of the sword, or at least he thought it was because of the sword.

"Mordred, don't listen," Arthur whispered.

"Kill him!" Morgana shrieked. Mordred shook his head repeatedly, his eyes closed, he muttered to himself. Arthur just watched him before a pain so excruciating he toppled to the ground hit him.

Mordred, hearing Arthur's screams, opened his eyes and staggered backwards. Arthur's body was lying at his feet, completely still. Mordred dropped his sword and listened to it hit the ground with a smack. He didn't know what to think, to feel, to say. Arthur wasn't moving, speaking or making any noise. He was dead.

"Mordred... what happened?" Morgana asked, walking towards him and running her cold hands through his hair. Mordred, in the spur of the moment, took the dagger fixed in Morgana's belt and stabbed it straight into her stomach just where he knew it would kill her. She gasped and double over and fell to the ground. Mordred knelt down to her level and looked straight into Morgana's eyes.

"I'm sorry... I had no choice," Mordred whispered, brushing a strand of jet black hair away from her face. Morgana's face went from hatred to realisation. She looked up at Mordred and realised everything.

"Thank you." And she smiled at him and she drifted into sleep.

Mordred stood up and looked around at the battlefield. The orange setting sun reflected in his eyes like the fires of war slowly dying.


	2. Chapter 2

**This wasn't going to continue but then I thought, 'What the Hell! I may as well!' Enjoy and please review!**

Mordred's thoughts were interrupted by a blood-curdling cry from behind him. He swerved around quickly and saw Guinevere, staring at her husband's body. Her hands were clasped over her mouth and her eyes were bulging. They both stood there for a while, in complete silence before Gwen ran to her Arthur.

She hauled him up into her arms and held him close to her chest,

"Arthur, please! Arthur!" she cried, weeping heavily. She was gasping. Mordred's heart was breaking at the sigh of her mourning. He couldn't bare to watch. Gwen turned around and met Mordred's eyes,

"Mordred, why did you... how could you?" she choked, still grasping Arthur's body.

"M'lady, I swear, this was not of my doing. It was Morgana's vengance, I promise," Mordred explained. Gwen looked at Mordred's hands, they were covered in blood. "I swear, this is not the blood of Arthur but Morgana."

"Why should I believe you?" Gwen asked, breathing through her tears.

"Because I loved Arthur. I didn't know it until I held this sword and had Morgana screaming at me to take his life. It took all of that for me to realise that he was one of the greatest friends I shall ever have. I will suffer and I will mourn and I will weep over his body just as you will if I have the chance. My heart is breaking, not just to see him die but to see you hold him. To see the all love you can offer him. Maybe, if I hadn't been so foolish, if I hadn't have joined sides with Morgana... he wouldn't... be... dead," Mordred said, having to spit out the final few words to stop himself from sobbing. Gwen looked from Mordred to Arthur.

"You're young, youth has a tendency to be foolish and you are no different. Everything happened too quickly and the decisions were too rushed and too scary, I know what it's like. You loved her, we all understood that. Look at you, you're too young for this," Gwen said, looking at his face. It was so youthful and smooth but far too old with the strain of the life he's lived. He was too young for any of this and Gwen's heart ached to look at him. She couldn't take him back into Camelot, not after all that had happened but, if she didn't, what would become of him? Where would he go? What would he do? Would he make it through the first few nights? She looked down at Arthur's head cradled in her arms and remembered the friendship they once had. Arthur would go on and on about how brilliant he was getting as a fighter and about how great a friend he was. Mordred got lost and now he's found his way back again, how could Gwen refuse him?

"Would you carry him for me?" Gwen asked, stroking strands of blonde away from Arthur's face. Mordred paused,

"Pardon, m'lady?" he asked.

"Will you carry him back to Camelot with me?" Gwen repeated. Mordred tried to make sense out of what he was hearing but he couldn't. Gwen noticed his confused expression and explained further, "Mordred, I allow you to return to Camelot as a knight. You are as much a Camelot knight now as any other we've had. You have shown great courage and that is all we ask."

Mordred smiled warmly at Gwen in thanks and he rushed over and knelt beside the king. He hauled him up into the air and he felt his heart leap as Arthur's head fell backwards. He tried not to look at Arthur on the journey as he knew it would only upset him. Gwen walked closely beside him throughout the journey, passing glances at her husband and sometimes sobbing quietly to herself. It hurt to hear the sobs every once in a while. To think she was now the queen and, yet, she wanted none of that. All she wanted was Arthur. It broke Mordred's heart to think he could have done something about it but he just stood there.

They arrived in Camelot the next day in the afternoon. Arthur slung in the druid boy's arms, closely followed by the new queen, then the remaining knights. Merlin arrived a few hours later and, when he found his king lying dead in the palace grounds, had a complete breakdown.

The funeral was short, how he'd have wanted it to be. They burned him and sent his ashes into the river. There were tears from everyone.

Gwen and Mordred returned to the castle together, slowly making their way through the trees and talking.

"Mordred, may I ask a favour of you?" Gwen asked, seeing the castle was now in sight.

"Anything, your majesty."

"I know Arthur would have wanted this and so do I, I want you to be my royal advisor. Please, I know that you can make the decisions that I can't."

"Yes, yes, of course. Thank you, m'lady," Mordred smiled.

Everything was looking up and, maybe, life wouldn't be as bad as he first thought.


End file.
